BAM Ireland has sent six workers home from the construction site of Dublin’s New Children’s Hospital after its first batch of scheduled weekly Covid-19 tests revealed them to be infected but asymptomatic.
The company said it expected to find small numbers of positive, asymptomatic cases when it began its mass testing regime, which it revealed on 29 January.
Its first batch screened 336 personnel, of whom the six tested positive.
Over the next six weeks BAM will screen the more than 1,000 personnel on site, and then review the testing programme.
“Covid is a huge challenge for society and for our industry, particularly when we are working adjacent to one of the most important hospitals in the country,” said BAM Ireland chief executive Theo Cullinane in a statement carried by Irish Building Magazine.
He added: “While we had already invested heavily in excellent safety technology and protocols, BAM and our subcontractor partners believe proactive testing is appropriate for the current wave of disease we are experiencing.”
The 165,000-sq-m hospital has been designated an essential public project with construction allowed to continue during the latest Level 5 lockdown.
BAM said construction was expected to top out at the 7th floor in the coming weeks.